Any suggestions on where you can get Phosophoric or Hydrochloric Acid?

Vic

Many (perhaps not all) rust convertors are Phosphoric acid.

__________________

__________________All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangereous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. T.E. Lawrence

Be careful with strong acids, some will damage, lighten, the color pigment in gelcoat and in LPU's like Awlgrip. Start out with a very dilute solution first and see how well it works at eliminating the greyed wood.

Home stores sell HCl and phosphoric acid. Or you can buy teak brightener at West Marine and pay fives times what you would have paid for the same exact chemical at Home Depot.

You can find HCl (muratic acid) in the concrete section as concrete cleaner.

Ospho is another Phosphoric acid rust treatment that you can find in hardware stores.

--Regards

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

Where can we find phosphoric or hydrochloric acid?

We've been successful with the DIY cleaner using lye and water. We have used apple cider vinegar as the brightner/neutraliser as recommended by one of the DIY articles. Not so impressive.

We haven't been able to find either of the above acids to make up the 'Part B', or brightener.
The writer of one article said he bought phosphoric at an Ace Hardware. We've tried them, and Lowes, and Home Depot. All they seem to have is Muriatic Acid.
We used to use hydrochloric acid in swimming pools, many years ago.

Any suggestions on where you can get Phosophoric or Hydrochloric Acid?

Sisyphus was a mythical king who believed he was smarter than Zeus, and he was able to B.S. his way around obstacles. He was also nautically inclined. He was not a nice guy. When he got his comeuppance in the end, his eternal fate was to roll a very large rock uphill. Zeus had programmed the rock to slip from the control of Sisyphus and roll back downhill, whereupon Sisyphus was forced to commence another cycle of doomed efforts. There is a parallel here.

Sisyphus was a mythical king who believed he was smarter than Zeus, and he was able to B.S. his way around obstacles. He was also nautically inclined. He was not a nice guy. When he got his comeuppance in the end, his eternal fate was to roll a very large rock uphill. Zeus had programmed the rock to slip from the control of Sisyphus and roll back downhill, whereupon Sisyphus was forced to commence another cycle of doomed efforts. There is a parallel here.

We just re-did all of our teak (handrails, hatch boards, companionway, rails for sliding top, etc.).

One of the blogs we follow suggest first washing/scrubbing with Spc n Span and a 'scrubby' sponge. Amazing the filthy water you get when you do this. Then light sanding with a random orbital sander (100 grit, then 150, then 220). Then several applications of an easy to find product CWF-UV (we got it at the local Ace Hardware). CWF-UV is made by "Flood". and the brushes clean up with water too.

We just re-did all of our teak (handrails, hatch boards, companionway, rails for sliding top, etc.).

One of the blogs we follow suggest first washing/scrubbing with Spc n Span and a 'scrubby' sponge. Amazing the filthy water you get when you do this. Then light sanding with a random orbital sander (100 grit, then 150, then 220). Then several applications of an easy to find product CWF-UV (we got it at the local Ace Hardware). CWF-UV is made by "Flood". and the brushes clean up with water too.

Grey is the default mode for teak, as in bottom of the hill. Beautiful, warm, glowing, show-room teak is that moment just before the downhill tumble. One is the natural state, the other is the fantasy mode of the unaccepting. Listen to Zeehag. Better, don't have a teak deck. There's a reason for it being called "leaky teaky". One of the most profound marketing scams ever promulgated on the boat owner. But a wonderful revenue source for boat workers. Thank you Fantasy Land!

Grey is the default mode for teak, as in bottom of the hill. Beautiful, warm, glowing, show-room teak is that moment just before the downhill tumble. One is the natural state, the other is the fantasy mode of the unaccepting. Listen to Zeehag. Better, don't have a teak deck. There's a reason for it being called "leaky teaky". One of the most profound marketing scams ever promulgated on the boat owner. But a wonderful revenue source for boat workers. Thank you Fantasy Land!

Actually, light tan with grey-ish overtones is readily available using salt water only. I have seen a few maintained that way. One owner said he washes it daily with salt water and a bucket. You start with the teak sanded and looking "perfect". Then salt water treat regularly with occassional scotchbright (or similar) accross the grain. It's beautiful, compared with the dull grey weathered look. Yep, takes more maintenance!

__________________"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard

Each pass over the teak with 3M pad or even a stiff brush, that results in removal of even the slightest amount of wood fiber (the grey stuff) exposing the underlying wood (the tan stuff), gradually reduces the amount of wood on the surface. That means that one day, even the teak plugs that hold the screws that penetrate the teak and the underlying deck material, wears away. And, the simple expansion and contraction of the wood with the days and nights and seasons, pulls the teak away from the black stuff, creating even more pathways for the seawater, and fresh water, to enter into the subdeck structure. The old square riggers used to pay the joints with tarred rope, then poured molten tar into the joints, because too much water was leaking below. And all that holystoning (or the modern equivalents) wore the decks to the point they required eventual redecking. On modern boats, the screws that penetrate the deck, eventually penetrate something that will hold the thread. All too often, that layer absorbs the water and transfers it somewhere else inside the boat. Weird drips and stains show up that often are connected to the teak decking seals going sideways. Solid decks, with molded nonskid don't leak like that, but then they aren't, as often, that non-skid. At least you can still paint them and use sand to keep the grip of bare feet or shoes, but it does tear up the seats of foulies. Oh well, nothing's perfect.

As is often said, all boats are compromises. Like most, we decided to buy more boat than we could sensibly afford, and make it work. Bite off more than you can chew, then chew like hell philosophy.

So, we have mostly teak decks, but solid not sandwich underneath so they don't leak. We get a few leaks from other places, but that's boats.

That was a compromise we had to make to get a big, comfortable ketch that feels like home. Visitors come on board and are quite blown away by it all. But to us it's home and how we enjoy our home to be whether we have visitors or not.

We have teak that is as old as the boat, 30 years, and plenty of it. We like grey teak for the decks and salt water is the go. We don't like grey for all the trim and fiddly decorative bits. I'm not remotely concerned about my teak disappearing due to my cleaning, brightening and oiling it. It will still be here and looking good in another 30 years and anyone who thinks otherwise is out of touch with reality.
But, there is a great pool of knowledge and experience on this forum and we happily pick and choose as we go from generous participants.

The result is that we are never out of work, we have a home, a boat that would cost close to $1m if we were buying new, for a fraction of that figure. The compromise is the work. Well worth it to us.

We make instant friends wherever we go because the boat has that 'romance of sail and far away places' about it. People come up and ask to take a picture and the next thing you know you've been invited for a meal. That tends not to happen with 'just another piece of Tupperware'

So, we work on keeping her looking good, not pristine, just cared for. And the members here have helped a lot to keep that work manageable, both from a cost perspective, and longevity.

As always, all opinions are appreciated, and some even respected

Vic

__________________One must live the way one thinks, or end up thinking the way one lives - Paul Bourget